Yes, if your employer agrees to it. When an employer helps with relocation costs, HMRC counts temporary storage as part of moving your belongings, and qualifying relocation costs up to £8,000 can be paid without tax or National Insurance, so start by asking your employer what their relocation policy covers.
Whether your employer pays, and how much, is up to them. This is general information, not tax advice.
What HMRC says
GOV.UK explains that some relocation costs up to £8,000 are exempt from reporting and paying tax and National Insurance. These “qualifying” costs include moving costs, and they apply when:
- you’re a new employee moving area to start the job, or an existing employee changing your place of work within the organisation;
- your new home is reasonably close to the workplace and your old one isn’t;
- the costs are paid before the end of the tax year after the one in which you started the job.
HMRC’s own guidance says removal costs include temporary storage, where you’re not moving straight from your old home to your new one. It isn’t an eligible cost if you don’t intend to move those belongings to your new home. For qualifying costs over £8,000, tax and National Insurance may have to be paid, so if your move is a big one, ask your employer how they handle it.
Questions for your employer
- Does the relocation package include storage, and is there a limit?
- Do you pay first and claim it back, and what paperwork do they need, by when?
- Does it cover storage after you’ve started the job, until your new home is ready?
How storage with us fits a relocation
Our storage is easy to budget for and to evidence, and our prices page explains what it costs. We charge every four weeks, and we email an invoice 5 to 7 days before each payment, with full details of the charge, so you have a record for every payment to pass on with your claim. If your employer or their relocation firm needs anything particular on the invoice, call us before you book and we’ll confirm exactly what it will show.
Start dates move, and storage moves with them. The minimum stay is two weeks, after which your storage carries on until you give notice, normally 14 days. New customers pay no deposit, and once you’ve moved out and we’ve checked the unit, we refund any days you’ve paid for but not used.
You can get to your unit from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, so you can collect a few things for the new job while the rest waits for your new home.
To get a figure for your employer, get a price online, or call us on 0800 2545585.
Related questions
- When will I be charged for storage?
- Do you provide VAT invoices for business storage?
- Can I keep my unit longer than I planned?
- Who do I need to tell when I move house?
- How long does it take to move house in the UK?
Further reading